Record Placing at Four’s Head
Following the GB Rowing Team 1st Assesment in Boston, Lincs in early November; four Brookes athletes headed to London this weekend to race in the quadruple sculls event at The Fuller’s Head of the River Fours. The lightweight crew, stroked by Ben Reeves and also containing senior internationals Peter Chambers, Jamie Copus and Niels van Zandweghe were the sole Brookes entry this year. Despite only forming the crew earlier in the week, the quad finished in third place- a club record and only losing out to two heavyweight Leander crews by 5 and 11 seconds respectively. BROOKES|Rowing return to their home stretch next week to race at Wallingford
European Rowing U23 Championships
Four Brookes athletes have spent the summer training at the GB Rowing Centre at Caversham in preparation for the inaugural European Rowing U23 Championships in Kruszwica, Poland. They have just returned from a successful weekend of racing, capping off an outstanding summer for Brookes athletes representing Great Britain, following success at the World Rowing U23 Championships in July. Sam Nunn raced in the men’s eight, with Aisling Humphries-Griffiths, Sophia Heath and Grace MacDonald racing in the women’s eight. The men’s eight came away with a hard fought silver medal ahead of France by 0.31s and just a length behind Romania, the silver medalists from the recent World U23
Women’s Fixture Report vs. OUWBC
The women’s squad took on local rivals OUWBC in an official fixture, over two pieces on the Tideway. After some unofficial sparring before last year’s Boat Race, this would be a good opportunity for both crews on the championship course. In the match between Brookes’ 1st crew and the Oxford Blue Boat, Brookes sprang out to an early lead but by the end of a competitive first piece, Oxford on the Middlesex station had made the most of their bend advantage, and came out on top by just over a length. Going into the second piece, the crews’ coaches and media onlookers were treated to a fantastic, closely-fought duel, with Brookes
Men’s Fixture Report vs. Oxford
On a Tideway in biblical conditions, OBUBC’s men raced Oxford, in their first official Boat Races media fixture. Both crews raced their respective Blue Boat and Isis counterparts over two pieces – from Putney to the Eyot, then restarting again at the Eyot, and finishing at the University Finish Post by Chiswick Bridge. As with Cambridge, Brookes found themselves up against a stronger Oxford crew than in 2016’s fixtures, this time containing two Olympians. In the first half course, Oxford took an early lead out the blocks from the Surrey station and maintained a 1-length lead to Hammersmith, where the conditions then became progressively worse, with swirling winds and breaking waves. OBUBC rowed a cleaner middle of the race
Men’s Fixture Report vs. Cambridge
OBUBC came out on top with both men’s eights in the first of Cambridge’s official Boat Races media fixture. Both crews raced their respective Blue Boat and Goldie counterparts over two pieces – from Putney to the Eyot, then restarting again at the Eyot, and finishing at the University Finish Post by Chiswick Bridge. With a stronger Cambridge Blue Boat than last season, and the 2016 Temple-winning Brookes lineup as the weekend’s sparring partner, one would expect some fiercely competitive racing. In the first piece, Brookes took an early lead out the blocks from the Middlesex station, by Harrods saw Cambridge taking the lead by 3 seats. In their rhythm, Brookes took the lead back round the
Brookes’ GB Summer – REPORT
Following in the footsteps of our medalling Olympians, OBUBC’s athletes had a very successful summer on the international circuit, representing at three different international events. At the U23 Worlds in Rotterdam, Ben Reeves achieved a bronze medal in the LM4-, to add to his other bronze in the same event last year. The men’s 4+ of Harry Brightmore (cox), Rory Gibbs, Matthew Aldridge and Michael Glover had a very strong regatta, winning their repechage strongly, but ended up a length behind the medals in an extremely tight field. At the Senior World Championships (also in Rotterdam), Joel Cassells came away with a fantastic bronze medal in the LM2-, considering the short amount of preparation time once his crewmate, Olympic spare
Olympic Success for Brookes athletes
‘Super Saturday’ strikes again, with Brookes athletes Scott Durant and Olivia Carnegie-Brown winning a gold and silver medal, in the men’s 8+ and women’s 8+ respectively. These final, emphatic medals brought Britain to the top of the Olympic rowing table, with 3 gold and 2 silver medals. The women’s 8+ pulled strongly through the field to claim silver – GB Rowing’s first ever Olympic medal in this event. The men’s 8+, with Scott Durant crossing the line first in the bow seat, brought home the Olympic gold for the first time since Sydney 2000. This caps off a phenomenal series of World Championships for the men, with GB winning every World Championship
OBUBC’s International summer
This summer, BROOKES|Rowing has a total of 18 athletes representing Great Britain on the international stage. With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games officially begun and the Olympic Regatta well underway, GB saw five Brookes rowers performing strongly in the initial rounds. Scott Durant (in the M8+) and Olivia Carnegie-Brown (in the W8+) both came through their respective heats in a winning position – with the men’s 8+ leading from the front, and the women’s 8+ commanding the second half, both to qualify direct to their finals. Richard Chambers led his LM2x heat to halfway, well ahead of the rest of the field to qualify for the A/B semis. Brother Peter
WHR Report & HRR Qualifiers
Every cloud has a silver lining, and that was certainly the case this year with Henley Women’s Regatta. Having won Senior 8’s last year, expectations were high for the repeat, and for the new depth in the squad to emulate the win in the Academic 8’s category. In the semi finals of both Academic and Senior 8’s, Brookes wowed the spectators by producing the most entertaining semis of the regatta – a local derby in Academic 8’s against Oxford, and a full-on boxing match against Princeton, USA in Senior 8’s. To be on the wrong side of two canvas-losses, while hugely frustrating, certainly fuels the fire for next season’s summer projects – for the
Men’s Fixture Report vs. Oxford
At 12pm on 21st February, Oxford Brookes University raced Oxford University in an official fixture for the Cancer Research UK Boat Races. Not to be outdone, the women’s squad raced Oxford’s Lightweight Women in some friendly pieces back home in Wallingford, and had a successful day with both boats. In the fixture against Isis, Brookes’ 2nd VIII got out to an early lead, holding 2/3 length advantage round the Fulham bend. After much close racing and many clashes, Isis capitalised and won the piece finishing at Chiswick Eyot by one length. However, due to an injury, the second piece was not rowed out. For a blow-by-blow report of the 1st VIII’s fixture with the Oxford Blue Boat, you
